Virat Kohli on Thursday announced that he has decided to step down as T20I captain of the Indian cricket team after the ICC T20 World Cup scheduled to be held in Oman and Dubai.
Taking to Twitter, the Indian cricket team captain stated that he needs to give himself space to be fully ready to lead the team in Test and ODI cricket.
“Understanding workload is a very important thing and considering my immense workload over the last 8-9 years playing all three formats and captaining regularly for the last 5-6 years, I feel I need to give myself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian team in Test and ODI cricket,” Kohli said in a statement. “I have given everything to the team during my time as T20 captain and I will continue to do so for the T20 team as a batsman moving forward.”
Kohli also said that he had lengthy discussions with head coach Ravi Shastri and vice-captain Rohit Sharma before taking the final decision.
“Of course arriving at this decision took a lot of time. After a lot of contemplation and discussion with my close people, Ravi bhai and also Rohit, who have been an essential part of the leadership group, I have decided to step down as the T20 captain after this T20 World Cup in Dubai in October,” the 32-year-old Kohli added.
Virat Kohli captaincy record in T20 cricket
Virat Kohli is the second most successful Indian cricket team captain in T20 cricket. He took over the T20I captaincy in 2017 after MS Dhoni stepped down from his post.
Kohli has captained India in 45 T20Is, winning 27 matches while suffering 14 defeats. Two matches ended with no results and another two in ties.
He is the only captain to win a T20 series in Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa.
|
Format |
Matches |
Won |
Lost |
Tied |
NR |
|
T20I |
45 |
27 |
14 |
2 |
2 |
Meanwhile, India will begin their ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium on October 24.
Featured photo: Jewel SAMAD / AFP
